September/October 2008 Article Page

LAGC September/October Volume 2, Issue 5

Featured Article, pg 12 - 17
Rototiller - Through the Year
By Charlie H Zuck

WITH VIRTUALLY NO EXPERIENCE IN AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT, Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey
established the original Rototiller Company of New York City in 1930. He was born in Clarens,
Switzerland on July 30, 1880 while his parents were touring Europe. He took an interest in machines
and engines early in life. During the summers, he chose to be an apprentice at a machine shop instead
of vacationing with his parents. By the age of 17, he had a complete machine shop in his home. His
early experience was in the automotive industry, operating several dealerships for several makes of
automobiles. In 1910 he leased an old factory and began to manufacture a 3-wheeled car called the
Motorette. Although this venture was brief, a connection was made that would lead him into the
rotary tillage arena.

IN 1930, SIEMENS, a German tiller manufacturer, brought their tiller to America. Siemens offered a
distributorship to Kelsey; thus The Rototiller Company was born with an office on Broadway in New
York City. Kelsey was instrumental in making several improvements to the Siemen machines. In 1932,
Kelsey added the SIMAR Tiller line to his business. SIMAR tillers ranged in horsepower from 2 ½ to 10
with tilling widths of 14" to 36". To accommodate this addition, he moved to a warehouse in Long
Island City and incorporated his business as ROTOTILLER, INC. He also registered ROTOTILLER as his
trademark.

In 1934, Kelsey designed and built a 4-1/2hp Model AA All-American Rototiller. Lack of money for a
complete manufacturing facility prevented full production of the AA. In April 1937, Rototiller, Inc.
purchased the former Draper Cordage factory on 102nd Street in Troy, New York and started the
process for full production of American made Rototillers. The next year, the first tiller, an improved
Model AA but renamed the A-1, was built in Troy.

The Wheelbarrow Cultivator came on the scene in 1939 (see photo 4). It was the first American tiller
designed for the backyard gardener. Apparently the idea was ahead of its time and sales were poor,
so for the next few years ROTOTILLER continued with the B series of tillers.

The very similar B1-2 followed in 1941, and the B1-3 in 1942.

RESTORING MY B1-3

The wheels and tiller section were the only things that were not stuck when I got it. I kept oil in the
cylinder and manifold for seven years to hopefully penetrate the rust and free up the piston. I was
finally motivated to get it running after seeing another collector with an earlier, running B1-3 at a
local show. In the process of trying to free up the piston, I broke the top of the cylinder off. I
discovered that the crankpin was broken and the crankshaft bearings were packed with rust. It took
about 6 tons of force to push that piston from the cylinder. I thought the project was done for. I
emailed the fellow with the running B1-3 to see if he had any parts. I was elated to hear that he had a
cylinder, crankshaft with connecting rod and piston. All I needed was to find rings, which he gave me
a source for. I was able to get it finished and running for the 2007 Rough & Tumble Show in Kinzers,
PA. It was good to hear the old 2-stroke come to life again after being silenced for so many years.

Kelsey was now interested in producing tillers for the average homeowner. In 1944, through an
agreement with Graham-Paige Motor Corporation, ROTOTILLER, INC. licensed Graham-Paige to
manufacture tillers using the ROTOTILLER design and selling them under the ROTOTILLER brand.
ROTOTILLER, INC. tillers would now be sold under the Roto-Ette trademark. On a recent trip to
Troy's Burden Iron Works Museum, I learned that ROTOTILLER built two B1-4 machines with one
going to Graham-Paige and the other going to Kelsey. If you are planning a trip to the Troy, NY area,
stop at the Burden museum and see the collection of Rototiller and Troy-Bilt tillers.

Graham-Paige built and sold the B1-6 and B1-7 with various attachments from around 1945 until
about 1950. They also marketed a small, 4-wheeled tractor with the ROTOTILLER 2-stroke engine
called Jaques-Frazer Model T.

In 1945, Kelsey made his second attempt at a small one-wheeled tiller. His earlier attempt in 1938,
with his Wheelbarrow Cultivator, was not well received. Kelsey's automotive background resulted in
his desire to come out with new models every year. This trait kept Rototiller, Inc. broke much of the
time.

The new Roto-Ette Home Gardener had a 1-1/2hp engine and a two speed transmission. My Home
Gardener pictured in photo 10 was built in February 1947. All of the castings are aluminum, which
made this a fairly light machine. Its eight attachments made it a versatile piece of equipment. Priced
at $330, sales were a slow start but greatly increased by 1948. Serious competition from other
manufacturers using cheaper front tine tillers forced orders to decline for the Home Gardener by
1949.

Kelsey's Chief Engineer, George Done, thought the Home Gardener was priced too high for the home
gardener. He started designing and building a much simpler machine that could be built at almost half
the price. Kelsey was impressed with George's design and ordered the machine into production.

In 1949 the Roto-Ette Model T came on the scene selling at $1 a pound; $194.50. Three months after
the Model T went into production, a new one was produced every 9 minutes and they were selling
like the proverbial hot cake.

In 1952, the Model 2 and Model 3 production started. The Model 2 had a 2hp engine while the
Model 3 had a 3hp engine. Both were equipped with the new Lightning Change Front. This allowed
quick mounting of various accessories to the front of the tiller.

In 1953, Kelsey unveiled the Model E; a small electric powered tiller that was 20 years in the making.
While testing one of Kelsey's imported tillers in 1930, a gentleman named Professor Arche Stone asked
him if he could develop "a little tiller on the end of a stick. Something you can just poke around under
the plants with." Fifteen years later, Kelsey's wife suggested something light like a vacuum cleaner to
till her flowerbeds. The Model E can be a tiller, chain saw, drill, trimmer, edger, auger, grinder, floor
polisher, and even a snow thrower (refer to photo 13).

In 1959, ROTOTILLER, INC. decided to sell stock to refinance. The Porter Cable Company bought
controlling interest in ROTOTILLER, INC. later that year. The Model 133A pictured in photo 15 is one
of the tillers produced when ROTOTILLER was under Porter Cable. In 1960 ROTOTILLER was sold to
Rockwell Manufacturing Company of Pittsburgh. Porter Cable Rototiller was then sold to Moto
Mower of Detroit. As a condition of the sale, Rockwell was required to supply replacement parts for
the Rototillers during a 5-year period. Rockwell did not want this responsibility and started looking
for someone else to do it. They knew much of the original machinery was still in Troy and that
Kelsey's Chief Engineer, George Done, was there too. Rockwell offered to sell George the parts
business and all the necessary equipment. On October 1, 1961, WATCO MACHINE PRODUCTS was
formed to make replacement parts for Rototillers.

George wanted to do more than make replacement parts, so again went to work at home to design
another rear-end tiller. In 1962 he introduced his new design and called it the Trojan Horse(refer to
photo 14). Six years later, Eaton, Yale & Towne's Trojan Division, who manufactured large
earth-moving equipment, forced WATCO to change the name of the tiller. It was changed to Troy-Bilt
in honor of the city where they were made. Watco also changed the company name to Garden Way
Manufacturing Company, Inc. Troy-Bilt enjoyed great success during the coming years as gardening
became popular. I learned in my Troy visit that at their peak, Garden Way had a 26- week backlog of
tiller orders. Gardening eventually lost its popularity and Garden Way bought too many other
companies. They most likely, forgot what made them successful. They were forced to file for
bankruptcy in 2001 and were eventually bought by MTD.

Although not featured here, I do have a 1979 Troy-Bilt Horse that my parents bought new, to
complete my collection.

Gardening Beyond the Plow, a Garden Way publication, was used as a resource for the information in
this article.

LAGC